Hazelnut Sandies

Recipe by The View From the Great Island

Hazelnut Sandies ~ I love the toasted nutty flavor, I love the buttery shortbread texture, and I love that little sandy finish from the sugar coating. This is my kind of cookie! These melt in your mouth hazelnut sandies are the perfect blend of innovation and tradition. A little swiche-er-oo in the nut department and you’ve got a whole different cookie, but in a comforting, familiar sort of way. I think you’re going to love them too. recipe tips for hazelnut sandies ~ Make sure you use fresh hazelnuts. If you’ve had them in the cupboard forever don’t use them, nuts have a short shelf life. I like to keep mine in a zip lock freezer bag in the freezer. I like to toast my nuts for a full 15 minutes before I grind them, the flavor payoff is huge. Your butter should be at room temperature. Make sure you mix the dough until it comes together without dry spots, and really take a minute when forming your log to make sure it is firmly packed. This will help it stay together later when you slice it. Use an oven thermometer to be sure of your temperature, many ovens are …

Servings

20 cookies

Total time

0 minutes

Courses

Dessert

Ingredients

2 sticks (1 cup, 8 ounces, 226g) unsalted butter
½ cup granulated sugar (plus more for rolling later)
½ tsp almond extract
2¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 cup finely ground toasted hazelnuts (If you grind your own, measure AFTER grinding, see instructions for

Method

*To roast hazelnuts, put them on a baking sheet and toast at 350F for 12-15 minutes, giving the pan a shake a couple of times during cooking. Let cool, then grind in a food processor.
Cream the butter and sugar together until well combined and fluffy. Beat in the extract.
Whisk the flour and salt together and add, along with the hazelnuts. Mix until the dough comes together. If it seems very dry you can add a teaspoon of ice water.
Turn the dough out onto parchment paper and bring together with your hands. Form the dough into a firm log, about 11" long. Chill the dough for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 325F
Slice the dough in 3/8 inch slices. If your slices are not perfectly round, you can nudge them into shape with your fingers. Roll each cookie in sugar to coat both sides and the edges. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes. The cookies will still be pale.
Cool on a rack.